


Living a half life

by pcworth



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-08-09 07:29:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16445468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pcworth/pseuds/pcworth
Summary: When Maggie is told that Alex is dying she goes to see her for what believes will be the last time. It didn't matter that they had broken up - this was Alex. When she learns of the alien that hurt Alex, she becomes more concerned that what happened is just beginning.





	1. Chapter 1

Winn wasn’t sure he was doing the right thing as he prepared to knock on Maggie’s door. He took a breath and then knocked. He was shuffling his feet when Maggie answered the door.

“Winn? What are you doing here?”

“I …” he had started to speak but then saw the woman in the background. He hadn’t really thought about Maggie being with someone or even considered the idea that she had moved on. Maybe it was because he knew that Alex hadn’t so he assumed Maggie also had not.

“Winn,” Maggie said, bringing his attention back to her. “Is there something wrong?”

“No, I shouldn’t have come,” he said. He turned to leave but she grabbed a hold of his arm to prevent him from going.

“What is going on?”

“Is everything ok?” the woman who had come a little closer to the door asked.

“It’s fine,” Maggie said, not turning to look at her. “I’ll be just a moment.”

She stepped outside with Winn and closed the door behind her. “Spill it. Now.”

“It’s Alex. She’s dying.”

Maggie didn’t say anything just stood there in obvious shock.

“It was an alien. We don’t really know how he did it, but her body systems are shutting down,” Winn continued. “The only thing keeping her alive right now is the machines and she had a living will. She didn’t want to be kept alive like this so tomorrow her mom is going to … Anyway, I thought I should … I thought someone should let you know in case you want to come say goodbye.”

 Maggie didn’t say anything only nodded.

“I’ll go,” he said.

“Thanks for um, thanks for letting me know,” Maggie said, before turning to go back into the apartment.

….

Maggie spent all night debating whether she should do what she was doing now – entering the DEO. In the end, she knew that if she didn’t see Alex one last time she would regret it for the rest of her life.

She still had DEO access because of her work with the NCPD, but it had been a while since she had been there. For the most part, she hadn’t seen Alex in months. The one time she saw her at a crime scene was awkward for both of them. They had been all business in talking to each other in the limited amount of time they were around each other and it saddened Maggie to think that was how it was going to be from now on with them.

It was Alex’s choice to break things off, she told herself, so there was no reason for her not to move on – or at least try to.

Now here she was, coming to the DEO to say goodbye to the woman she once believed was who she would spend the rest of her life with.

Once she entered the command center, J’onn saw her and approached. “I’ll take you to her,” he said.

They traveled down a hall and to the elevators, not saying anything until they were inside it and heading down.

“You don’t seem surprised to see me here,” she commented.

“I try not to read others’ minds, but in times of high stress it is hard,” he explained. “I knew Winn went to see you.”

“He didn’t really explain what happened to her.”

“She was doing her job. Her and a team went out to capture a Fort Rozz prisoner who we believe has been responsible for at least five deaths. Somehow he is able to put his victims in some sort of coma and from there they just sort of waste away. The Kryptonians also seemed to be at a loss as to how he does it. The team was successful in apprehending him and they got him back here where he broke loose from the guards and he went right at Alex, even though she wasn’t the closest to him. He touched her skin and she fell unconscious, but it only lasted for maybe a minute if that and she was awake once more. We ran all the tests and everything came back normal and she said she felt fine and couldn’t pinpoint anything being amiss. She was released and headed home. The next day she didn’t show up and Kara went to go check on her and found her unconscious at her place. She was flown back here and … well we exhausted every means we had at our disposal.”

The elevator stopped but Maggie made no move except toward the panel where she hit the button to keep the door closed a moment.

“This alien, it’s here?”

“Yes, but he has not been cooperative in answering any questions and I can’t read its mind. All it would say was that it was Alex choice to come back.”

“Her choice, what does that mean?”

“We don’t know,” J’onn admitted. “We have been monitoring Alex’s brainwaves too, to see if there is some activity going on in her mind that might account for this, but it hasn’t been helpful either.”

“So, you are just going pull the plug?”

“Like I said, we have exhausted all our options. As it is, she can no longer breathe on her own and her body has already begun the process of shutting down. Alex was clear about what she wanted in terms of her death and we must respect that.”

Maggie knew that was true, that Alex wouldn’t want to be kept alive by machines, but at the same time, she felt like something else needed to be done other than this. Maggie opened the elevator doors and stepped out with J’onn, who led her to the infirmary. They were standing outside the door of one of the private rooms when J’onn faced her.

“Eliza and Kara are in there,” he said. “They have barely left her bedside.”

“God, I can’t imagine what they are going through.”

J’onn opened the door and Maggie walked in, but stopped almost immediately at the sight of Alex in the hospital bed. A tube was coming out of her mouth to help her breathe and if it weren’t for that and the heart monitor, Maggie would have thought she was dead already.

“Maggie,” Eliza said coming over and embracing her. “Thank you for coming.”

Once Eliza released her, Kara was there hugging her.

“I’m so sorry,” Maggie whispered to her.

Once they were separated, Maggie’s attention again turned to Alex.

“How long has she been like this?”

“It wasn’t like this at first. At first, it was like she was sleeping,” Eliza said, her eyes going back to her daughter. “But It’s been just over a week on the ventilator.”

Maggie tried not to think about the fact that Alex had been like this for days, yet she had only found out about it last night and only then because Winn had apparently took it upon himself to tell her. She wondered if he hadn’t shown up, when would she have found out that Alex died.

“You take what time you need,” Eliza said, motioning to Kara that they should leave the room to give Maggie some privacy.

“When?” Maggie asked. “When are you …”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish the question, but she could tell that Eliza understood what she meant.

“Everyone else has said their goodbyes,” Eliza said. She and Kara left the room and Maggie stood there a moment looking at the bed until she finally walked over and took a seat in the chair next to it. She looks small, Maggie thought. Alex could cut an imposing figure when she wanted to – usually when she was being all Agent Danvers, but all Maggie could think now, seeing her in the bed like this, was that she seemed smaller somehow.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say,” Maggie said. “I mean, how is it possible that you’re lying here and you’re dying. You can’t be dying.”

She fell silent for a long while, just sitting there watching the ventilator do the breathing for her.

“We were should have been married by now,” she finally said. “We were going to be married.”

She started to cry but quickly wiped away the tears. She had cried the night Alex had broken up with her, cried the night after that and the night after that. She never thought she would be crying because she’d be watching Alex die.

That was when she knew, she couldn’t watch it happen. Not that she had really thought about it, but she realized that Eliza was going to have the machine turned off, probably shortly after Maggie was done. And she didn’t even know if they expected her or would even want her to be there when it happened, but Maggie knew she couldn’t do it.

“I’m sorry,” she said to Alex, as she got up.

She got to the door, her hand on it before looking back at Alex one last time and then she walked out. Eliza and Kara stood up from the seats they were sitting on in the hall when she came out.

“Thank you,” Maggie said. “For letting me…”

Eliza gave her another hug. “She never stopped loving you.”

Maggie nodded to her and then to Kara before walking away. She took the elevator back up to the command center and approached J’onn once more. “The alien that did this to her, take me to it.”

“Detective …”

“I’m not going to do anything. Read my mind if you don’t believe me, but I need to see who did this to her.”

“Ok,” he said.   

J’onn once again led the way, but this time to the detention cell area. They were nearing the end of the corridor when he stopped next to a door.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes.”

He opened the door for her and she entered seeing the alien in the middle of the room behind one of the containment cells. It was male – or at least she thought maybe it was – honestly, she wasn’t sure because what she was looking at resembled a mannequin. It had the shape of a human – two arms, two legs, two eyes, ears and a mouth and nose, but like a mannequin it didn’t really have any features.

It stood when it saw her.

“Detective Sawyer,” it said, and it smiled at her – an expression that seemed impossible for it.

Maggie looked back at J’onn who barely shook his head no. He understood – or read her mind to know what she was asking. She again focused on the alien.

“How do you know who I am?”

“Because of Alexandra,” it said as if it was the most natural answer in the world.

Maggie got closer to the containment cell, studying it as it appeared to be studying her – almost mirroring her exactly.

“If you find this form displeasing, perhaps this one will be more to your liking,” it said, and then its body began to shimmer and suddenly Maggie was looking at Alex, causing her to back up and then turning to see J’onn move forward.

“Did you know it could do that?” Maggie asked him.

“No,” J’onn said. “There was nothing in the Kryptonian records to indicate it has the power to shapeshift, but it does explain how it was able to stave off capture for so long.”

The DEO had trouble tracking it after they suspected it was responsible for the second of the five killings they had investigated. It had found trace DNA at each of the crime scenes that matched the Kryptonian database from the prison.

“What did you do to her?” Maggie asked. She felt odd speaking to it while it had Alex’s form, but she wanted answers.

It moved a little to her left, still keeping its eyes – well Alex’s eyes – on her. “Do you not find this form to your liking?” it asked. When it spoke, it spoke with Alex’s voice as well. “Do you no longer find her   attractive now that you no longer wear that ring on your finger?”

“What did you do to her?” Maggie repeated. She wasn’t going to let this thing bait her. But the fact it knew who she was, knew that she had been engaged to Alex posed even more questions in her mind.

“I killed her,” it said. “Almost killed her I should say. It’s simply remarkable that she has managed to hang on to life. She is truly one of a kind. You shouldn’t have let her go Maggie – not that she gave you much of a choice in that. “

“You said you almost killed her, does that mean there is a chance she won’t die?” she asked, moving closer to the cell. If there was some way to save Alex she needed to find it fast.

“As I told your martian friend there, it is her choice not mine.”

“What does that mean?”

“I thought that would be fairly obvious,” it said.

Maggie came closer to the cell. “Is there a chance she won’t die?” She needed to the know the answer. She needed to stop what was about to happen to Alex if there was even the smallest of chances.

It cocked its head to the side, and Maggie gathered that it was thinking of what to say. She wanted to hit the cell, or even go inside of it and grab a hold of this thing and make it tell her the answer. If she didn’t know any better she would have thought it was purposely taking its time so that the deed upstairs would be done.

“I have been to many worlds,” it said finally. “I have taken many forms – although it would be wrong to say that I choose the form because of what it looks like. No, the form doesn’t really matter except for the need to blend in with the population. It’s just skin. Something else makes my victims attractive to me. When I saw Alexandra, I knew I had to have her and she hasn’t disappointed me. In all my years, I can think of only one other who has been as … tasty to me as she has been. But to answer your question, no one that I have ever experienced has recovered and while Alexandra is exceptional I do not believe she will be any different.”

Taking a step back, Maggie felt whatever resolve she had flow from her body.

Alex was going to die.

Maggie looked at J’onn. “I’m done here.”  She didn’t wait for a response from him, merely walked to the door. It slid open and that is when the alien spoke once more.

“Detective, as I said, she was exceptional, but in the end it didn’t matter,” it said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Maggie was stuck on the word “was.” The use of the past tense. Again, her eyes went to J’onn, who had his head bowed down and his eyes closed before opening them to look at her. That look was all it took to tell her and she turned once more to the alien, but as Maggie stared it down – this alien who had taken Alex’s form along with her life – she knew there was no remorse in it. She turned and left the room, stopping almost immediately outside the door to lean up against the wall next to it. J’onn came out a moment later but didn’t say anything, just let her stay there as she collected the will to move.

“It targeted her,” Maggie said finally. “It murdered her. And now it, it has her face, her voice. It can’t … it can’t stay like that. If nothing else, you have to make it stop.”

“If we can find a way to do so, we will,” J’onn promised.

Maggie wanted to cry, but the tears weren’t coming. Nothing was coming except an emptiness like she had never experienced before. She bent down, her hands on her knees as she felt her breath coming out too rapidly. She stayed there, not trusting herself to move or do anything. She briefly thought about going back into that room and maybe J’onn wouldn’t care if she entered that cell. Maybe he wouldn’t care if she made that thing give up Alex’s form.

But she knew she couldn’t. Not because J’onn would most assuredly stop her, but because she couldn’t go in there and see Alex – see her alive or at least the alien’s copy of her alive when she knew that upstairs Alex was dead.

Somewhere she heard a door slam shut, but she didn’t pay it any mind.

“Alex?”

The tone of J’onn’s voice had to her looking up and following his gaze which was fixed on the corridor to their left where Alex was striding down toward them. Maggie thought she must be hallucinating. Even if Alex were alive, she wouldn’t be up and moving after being on a ventilator like that. She wouldn’t be moving with such a purpose. J’onn approached as she reached them, but she ignored them as if they weren’t there, instead entering the room even as Kara appeared at the end of the hall yelling Alex’s name. J’onn followed Alex but it took Maggie a couple of seconds – time enough for Kara to reach her – before they also entered the room.

There was Alex standing in front of the cell staring at the alien who still held her form. Wearing a pair of lightweight pants and a tank top, with no shoes, she stood there facing the mirror image of herself.

The alien began to clap. “Simply remarkable Alexandra,” it said. “I didn’t think you capable of it, but you have proved me wrong.”

It looked as if it was about to say something else but Alex quickly imputed a code on the panel next to the cell and entered it, hitting it with a vicious right which she followed up with more punches until J’onn entered and grabbed her from behind pulling her out while Kara closed the cell. Alex was struggling against J’onn as if wanting to free herself so she could continue the onslaught.

The alien, whom she had knocked to the floor, got up, laughing – still in Alex’s form with her voice – and approached the cell’s barrier, its eyes never leaving Alex, who had stopped struggling but was still being held by J’onn.

“I can’t wait to experience you again Alexandra,” it said. “It will be even sweeter the second time around. Unless of course the detective here would like to volunteer to be my next meal.”

For the first time Alex looked at someone other than the alien. From her expression, Maggie figured that Alex had no idea she had been there. Maybe she had no idea of anything, Maggie thought, seeing an almost confused expression on Alex’s face. Their eye contact didn’t last long as Alex slipped from J’onn’s grasp, again going for the cell, but this time Kara was there to stop her. It didn’t stop Alex from trying to fight her sister to reach her intended goal. Maggie was so shocked that she hadn’t even noticed that Eliza had entered the room. As Kara grabbed Alex to hold her still, Eliza came up behind her daughter and injected something into her arm.

It must have been a sedative – a strong one – because Alex stopped fighting and began to waver a bit on her feet. By the time she was unconscious, Kara had picked her up into her arms.

“Take her back to the medbay, the doctor is waiting,” Eliza instructed.

Once Kara left, J’onn asked Eliza what happened.

“Not here,” she said, refusing to even glance in the direction of the alien. J’onn walked her out, with Maggie right behind them.  Maggie took one last look at the alien who was standing there smiling at her.

After they made it back to the corridor, J’onn again asked for an explanation.

“I don’t know,” Eliza said. “I gave them the go ahead and they began to shut down the machines. I watched as she died and she was dead. Kara was crying and I didn’t know what to say or do and then Alex, she just opened her eyes and sat up. She began choking because of the tube so we held her down while the doctor removed it. She was coughing and I think I was laughing, I just felt such joy that my daughter was there alive but even as she stopped coughing, she didn’t say anything and didn’t actually seem to be aware of her surroundings or any of us. Then she bolted from the bed. We were all so shocked that we stood there doing nothing and then I told Kara to follow her. She must have come straight here.”

“Is she going to be ok?” Maggie asked. “I mean that wasn’t normal.”

Eliza shook her head, not knowing the answer to that. “I need to get back up there and check on her.”

J’onn and Maggie escorted Eliza back up, none of them speaking, all of them alone with their own thoughts about what happened. While Maggie was still trying to sort out exactly what happened – and how quickly it had happened – she couldn’t help but get stuck on what the alien had said to Alex about experiencing her again.

Whatever this was, she feared it wasn’t over.


	2. Chapter 2

Maggie stayed back against the wall of the medbay – out of everyone’s way – as she watched Eliza and two of the DEO doctors presumably checking all of Alex’s vitals. None of them had said much that she understood outside of confirming that she was fully sedated. They had hooked up an IV to her but Maggie didn’t know if that was for keeping her sedated or some other purpose.

The only time Maggie looked away from Alex’s sleeping form was to glance at the heart monitor which was again connected to her. It showed a steady beat and Maggie felt comforted by that if nothing else. She was so focused she hadn’t even noticed that Kara had come up to stand next to her until she spoke.

“I’m sorry,” Kara said. “I’m sorry that we didn’t come and tell you sooner.”

“It’s ok,” Maggie said. “I understand why I wouldn’t be … besides I’m sure you had more important things on your mind.”

“Still,” Kara said. “We should have sent someone. You deserved to know.”

Maggie didn’t respond. Did she deserve to know? What was she to Alex besides her ex fiancée? Eliza had said that Alex hadn't stopped loving her, but did that really mean anything now?

“That alien down there, J’onn said that the Kryptonians didn’t really know much about it. How is that your people caught it then?”

“We didn’t,” Kara replied. “He was brought to us from another race who had asked us to imprison him. He was listed as one of the high priority prisoners at Fort Rozz because of how dangerous he was. He was imprisoned in a solitary cell where he was not allowed to have any access to any living being. There wasn’t much in his file beyond this ability to put his victims in a coma before they died.”

“Maybe Alex will be able to tell you more once she wakes up,” Maggie said, moving off the wall.

“Where are you going? Don’t you want to be here when she wakes?”

“To work,” Maggie lied. She had taken the day off once she had decided to come here that day, but she no longer wanted to be there.

“I will text you and let you know how she’s doing once she wakes up,” Kara said.

“Will you check with J’onn to see if I can get access to the files of the other victims?”

“I’m sure he’ll be ok with you reviewing them, but what do you think you will find?”

“I don’t know,” Maggie said honestly. “I keep going back to what that alien said about there being something about Alex that made it want to target her. Maybe there is some pattern there.”

…

Alex gasped as she woke as if she didn’t have enough air to breathe. Unlike before she didn’t sit up or really move much, but she was blinking her eyes a bit before they focused.

“Alex,” Eliza said coming to her daughter’s bed side.

“Mom?” Alex said, before yawning. She moved like she was about to sit up and then thought better of it.

“You’re going to be ok,” Eliza said, taking her hand. “Just take things slow.”

“What happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

Alex yawned again, and Eliza thought maybe she was about to fall back to sleep, but she blinked several times. “Can I get some water?”

Eliza moved to pour her a drink, but Alex’s hand was shaking so she had to help her daughter with it.

“My throat hurts,” Alex said.

Eliza knew that was from the ventilator tube and was about to explain it when Alex did fall back asleep. She knew her daughter was probably in no condition to be awake for long – after all she had technically died, but she couldn’t help but wonder how Alex had managed to leave the bed and find that alien, only to attack it.

This time she was the one who was yawning as she took a seat next to the bed. She had barely left her daughter’s bedside since she had come in from MidVale. As her condition had worsened, Eliza had felt more and more helpless and when it came to making the decision, she knew she was doing what Alex wanted, but she wasn’t sure she could do it. Yes, Kara too was her daughter, but this was different, this was her Alexandra, the one she had held in her arms moments after she was born. Jeremiah was there beside her, beaming down at this newborn baby who they knew they would do anything for.

She had barely registered that the alien had taken Alex’s form when she had entered the room to sedate her. J’onn told her later what had happened when Maggie had gone to confront it.

Maggie. She wished that things had worked out between Maggie and Alex as she had never seen her daughter so happy as she was with Maggie. But Alex wanted children and Maggie didn’t and in the end that wasn’t something Alex could get past. Yet, ever since breaking things off with Maggie, Alex had done nothing to try to move on with anyone else. To Eliza’s knowledge she hadn’t dated anyone.

There was a sadness in Alex now and it pained Eliza that she couldn’t do anything to ease that for her daughter.

There was a knock on the door frame, and Eliza looked to see J’onn standing there.

“Why don’t you head home for a while? I can keep vigil,” J’onn said. She had been staying at Alex’s place since she had gotten into town.

“She woke a little while ago,” Eliza said. “She was too tired to be awake for long. But she asked me what happened.”

“She doesn’t know?” he asked coming further into the room.

Eliza shrugged. “It could be she just wasn’t awake enough to really know what was going on.”

“You’re nearly as exhausted as she is,” J’onn said. “I will have one of the agents drive you home so you can get some rest.”

Eliza didn’t want to leave, but she also knew she couldn’t stay awake much longer. She nodded as she stood up. “If she wakes again for anything longer than a couple of minutes …”

“I will send someone for you,” he said.

“Thanks,” she said, and she bent over the bed and gave Alex a kiss on the forehead. She approached J’onn. “That thing, does it still have her form?”

“Yes,” he said. “It hasn’t reverted back to its own form since making the change.”

Eliza looked back at Alex and then thanked J’onn once more before leaving.

…

Maggie sat at her desk reviewing the files that J’onn had let her access concerning the five homicides, along with what little they knew about the alien which wasn’t much.

Kara had let her know that Alex had woken up a couple of times, but neither for anything more than a minute or two. Alex had now been asleep for more than 13 hours straight without waking and it was worrying Kara (and Maggie) that perhaps she wouldn’t wake again. Eliza had tried to assure Kara that Alex’s body needed time to heal from the ordeal it had just gone through.

While Maggie understood that she couldn’t help but think back to Alex attacking the alien with a vicious purpose. There had been nothing weak about Alex’s body at that point.

The alien, according to its file, had been called Evo from its captor. There was no explanation for why it was identified that way. Its origin was listed as unknown as was pretty much everything else about it. There was a notation in the Kryptonian files that the Kryptonians had wanted to study his genetics, but its captor wouldn’t allow it, warning them that the longer he was uncontained or around others the more dangerous he would be. One sample had been taken from it – and it was that sample that had helped the DEO know what it was hunting for once the made the connection between the murders.

But the alien and how it killed the others seemed to be the only connection. In reviewing all the files, Maggie wasn’t seeing any common thread among them and Alex. Yet, Evo had said there was a reason for targeting Alex.

There had to be something she was missing, and she knew then that she would need to delve deeper into each of the victim’s lives to see if there was a connection.

A part of her wondered why she was even bothering. Evo was safely detained at the DEO. Alex hadn’t died. If this was a normal murder investigation it could be considered case closed. But this wasn’t normal and if there was a chance that Alex wasn’t safe Maggie had to do something.

Kara had asked her if she wanted to come back in and see Alex, but Maggie had told her no. Thankfully, Kara hadn’t pressed the issue. It’s not like she didn’t want to see Alex and make sure she was doing ok, but too much had happened between them.

What would she even say to Alex – ‘glad you aren’t dead or hey, I’m still upset that you threw what we had away.’ No, she had decided after their break up that the best thing for her would be to keep her distance and move on. Not that she had accomplished much in terms of that.

After all, she still loved Alex.

…

It was 21 hours before Alex was awake for more than a couple of minutes. She woke to a darkened medbay, vaguely recalling waking before.

“Alex?”

She looked over to see her very sleepy looking mom in the bed next to hers.

“Mom, you ok?”

Eliza smiled as she sat up and walked over to her, “yes, honey, I was just taking a nap, waiting for you to wake. How are feeling?”

“Tired.”

“Well, try to stay awake, just for a bit ok?”

Alex nodded. “My throat is kind of sore. What happened?”

Eliza pushed some hair back from Alex’s face. “An alien assaulted you, but we can talk about all of that later. I just need to know you are going to be ok.”

“Can I get some water?”

Eliza moved and poured her a cup, while Alex adjusted the bed so she was sitting up more. This time, Alex was able to handle it on her own and she drank down the whole cup.

“Do you want more?”

“No.”

Eliza began to check Alex’s vitals and her daughter remained silent throughout, which was a little odd Eliza thought as Alex hated such things, especially when it was coming from her mother. Everything was checking out fine, although she needed to schedule some scans later. A nurse had come in on her regular checks and saw that Alex was awake and Eliza was administering to her, but she left to get the doctor who joined Eliza.

Once Eliza was done, she told Alex she’d be back and she walked out to talk with the doctor in private.

“She doesn’t remember what happened,” Eliza said. “We’re going to need to do some brain scans later to make sure everything is normal, but for now, no one gives her details until I get to talk to her more fully about what occurred.”

“Why don’t you tell her now?”

Eliza shook her head no. “I want to make sure she can stay awake for longer stretches first. Plus given what happened before, I don’t want her to go looking for it in its containment unit, not as long as it is in her form.”

When she returned, Alex was still there in bed, which somewhat surprised Eliza. Patience as a patient was not one of Alex’s strengths.

“Everything is checking out,” Eliza said, approaching the bed again. “We’re going to get some more tests scheduled later on. For now, I just want you to rest and take it easy. There is no reason to push yourself.”

Even as she said it, she knew her daughter wouldn’t abide by it.

“Ok,” Alex replied.

…

Maggie walked out of the hi-rise apartment complex where she had just spoken to the husband of one of Evo’s victims and she was wondering if she was wasting her time. She had spoken to only two of the victims’ families but so far she couldn’t see any connection.

This victim came from a wealthy family and married a man from yet another wealthy family so demographically there was no similarity to her and Alex or the other victims. Her husband, who didn’t seem as upset over her death as Maggie thought he might be, hadn’t been overly helpful. He said there was nothing going on in their lives beyond the norm.

She pressed him on anything that might have been different for her in the time leading up to her death. He at first said there was nothing and then he mentioned almost in passing as if didn’t matter that she had been a little emotional as of late. When she asked what for he had to think about it and she really wanted to ask him if he even knew his wife. Finally, he said that it had been the year anniversary of his mother-in-law’s death and his wife was still upset and feeling guilty over the whole affair because she had put her mother in a home (against her wishes) and she had died within two months of being there.

The husband clearly felt it was much ado about nothing and Maggie could see nothing in that story that connected to Alex or the other victim she had already met with a family member about. In that case, it was a young woman who was only 20. Maggie had met with her older sister who said that when she found out her sister was in a coma she thought it was because she must have swallowed a bunch of pills. She had always been a quiet and sad, her sister said so she assumed it was a suicide attempt.

Maggie asked if there was anything specific going on in the sister’s life that had happened recently and she said nothing that she knew of. To be honest, she said that she wasn’t really that close with her sister (well, her half sister she then said), and so she didn’t know what her life was like.

As she got into her car, Maggie thought about if she should even bother with the next interview she had scheduled for tomorrow. That one was with the roommate of the victim that died just before Alex.

She had spoken with Kara earlier today as Kara had called her to ask how it was going. Since she had only spoken to one victims’ family at that point, she didn’t have much to say.

Then Maggie asked her how Alex was doing since Kara hadn’t offered up the information on her own. She didn’t know if Kara hadn’t said because she didn’t want to say or she didn’t think Maggie wanted to know but either way she sensed a hesitation on her part.

“She’s been sort of quiet,” Kara said.

“She did have a near death experience.”

“I know, it’s just …”

“Just what? Is something wrong with her?” Maggie asked. Kara had texted her when Alex had first woken up – well when she had woken for more than a minute at a time and had told her how Alex didn’t remember what happened to her.

Then she had heard from Kara again when she told her that Alex remained in the Medbay, needing to recover according to her mom and that they had told her what had happened to her. Maggie had asked her then how she reacted to that and Kara said Alex hadn’t had much of a reaction at all.

That was a red flag to Maggie, and apparently others, but they had chalked it up to Alex having gone through a trauma.

“That’s it, I don’t know. She’s just … different. She’s not pushing to get back to active duty or acting like her normal self.”

Maggie tried to reassure her that Alex probably needed some time to get back to being herself, but even as she said it she was bothered by what Kara had said. Alex didn’t know how to not push herself so that was yet another red flag in Maggie’s mind.

A part of her wished that she didn’t care, that she could just walk away from this, walk away from Alex for good, but she knew she couldn’t. She had to know that Alex would be go ok.

That is why she would go to the next interview.

…

Eliza sat in the chair watching Alex and Kara interact or rather Kara talking to Alex and Alex remaining mostly quiet, only politely responding when needed. They had brought Alex home today and even that was an odd occurrence. Alex hadn’t bothered her about coming home, about leaving medbay, about anything and the only reason they were even here now was because Eliza had suggested that maybe Alex would be more comfortable recovering at home now that she no longer needed to be in medbay.

There was something off about Alex and Eliza wasn’t sure if had to do with the alien attack itself or that she had died.

Since waking up, the only thing Alex seemed to have more than a passing reaction to was when they were telling her what happened and Kara mentioned that Maggie was there. It wasn’t even that Alex said anything, but Eliza had been watching as a storm of emotion seemed to pass through Alex in that moment, but just as quickly as it was there, it was gone.

Alex hadn’t asked a single question about the alien either. She hadn’t really done anything since waking up and that bothered Eliza. She knew her daughter and the way Alex was acting now was nothing like how Eliza expected her to react to things.

“Kara,” Eliza interrupted. “You should head back to work, you’ve missed a lot of time lately.”

Kara was about to say something, but Eliza’s look halted her and she gave Alex a hug before saying goodbye. Eliza noticed that Alex barely returned the hug and didn’t even say goodbye. Eliza too got a hug before Kara was out the door.

“Can I get you anything?” Eliza asked Alex.

“No.”

Eliza came over and took a seat on the couch. “I know this has probably been a little overwhelming for you,” she said. “But I want you to know, you can talk to me about whatever you need to.”

“Do you mind if I go take a nap?”

“Of course,” Eliza said. “You should rest whenever you feel like it. You have been on your feet more today than any time since you woke up. I will be out here if you need anything.”

Alex didn’t really react beyond a small nod and she went to her bedroom and shut the door. Everything about it still seemed wrong to Eliza and she hoped that whatever this was that Alex would snap out of it soon.

…

Alex entered her bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, closing her eyes and taking a couple of calming breaths. She knew her mom was worried about her, but it’s not like she could tell her or anyone else about what she had experienced. When she first woke up and told her mom she didn’t remember, she was telling the truth, but by the time she had been awake a few times, she knew exactly what had happened. She even knew about the decision to shut off the machines and let her die.

The actual dying she didn’t recall.

And the moment she woke and went after Evo was more than a little hazy but she did remember the rage that filled her.

She had wanted to kill him with her bare hands. Kill him for what he did to her.

The only thing she could do now was keep him from doing it to her again. Because he wouldn’t stop coming after her of that she was sure.


	3. Chapter 3

Maggie tried to concentrate on her computer as she typed up a report from a case she had just finished but she was having a rough go of it.  All she could think of was Alex.

Again, she wished that she could just not care, but that wasn’t going to happen.

She had met with Kara last night, surprised when the younger Danvers asked if she could come over. She half expected Supergirl to come flying into her apartment but instead Kara merely knocked on her door. After offering Kara a drink, which Kara declined, they took seats.

_“Have you found anything in your investigation?” Kara asked._

_Maggie shook her head no, “Nothing that is showing me any sort of connection. All the victims were completely different.”_

_The expression on Kara’s face told her that she had been hoping for a different answer. Maggie had interviewed at least once person connected to each of the victims over the past week and a half and had found she was stumped as to what made these people and Alex stick out to Evo._

_“There is nothing?” Kara asked, as if the answer would change._

_“They are all different – different genders, different lifestyles, different socio-economic standings, different family situations,” Maggie sighed. “I’m sorry.”_

_Kara shrugged. “It’s ok. It was probably a long shot anyway.”_

_“You could have called if you just wanted the answer to that question,” Maggie said. “Why are you here?” She didn’t want it to come out as hostile as it sounded, but she didn’t know why Alex’s sister would be here._

_“It still looks like her.”_

_“You’ve gone to see Evo?”_

_“No, J’onn won’t let anyone in there,” Kara said. “It’s the one thing Alex has said about Evo – don’t let anyone near it.”_

_“Does that mean she remembers what happened?”_

_“She says she doesn’t.”_

_“You don’t believe her?”_

_“I don’t know, that’s just it, I don’t know what’s going on with her. She hasn’t come back to the DEO since she left. She hasn’t even left the apartment as far as I can tell,” Kara said, getting up and beginning to pace. “She says that she isn’t ready to go back, that her body is still recovering, but Eliza says that physically she could, and you know Alex, she wouldn’t let something not being physically cleared for duty stop her. And that isn’t the only thing, Alex, she’s … different.”_

_“How so?”_

_“It’s like she is on auto pilot. If you ask her a question, she answers, but she doesn’t offer anything up for the most part. It’s like she’s a robot or something, just reacting instead of participating in life. Eliza is worried and so am I. Eliza had to go back to Midvale but before she did, she had been staying with Alex and she said Alex barely sleeps and when she does, it’s not peaceful, but Alex won’t talk about whatever it is.”_

_Kara had stopped pacing and was looking at Maggie as if she would have an answer to all of this, but she didn’t. It made Maggie worry too though. Kara was right, Alex would have been itching to get back to work. She remembered that after Alex had been trapped in that water tank that she had wanted Alex to take more time off than she had but Alex had insisted on going back quickly._

_“We don’t know what he did to her,” Maggie started to say, but then paused. “But Evo knows.”_

_“Yes, but it’s not like we can go in there and ask.”_

_“Maybe someone should.”_

_“But Alex said that no one should go in there and I don’t think J’onn is going to lift that edict.”_

_“I’ll go talk to him.”_

_“I was sort of hoping you would go talk to Alex.”_

_Maggie realized that was the real reason Kara had come here._

_“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”_

_“Are you angry with her because of how things ended?”_

_“No,” Maggie replied. “That’s not it. She and I haven’t really spoken, you know this. I mean I didn’t even know she was dying until it was almost done, and I’m not saying that because I blame you or anyone else for not telling me. It’s just the reality of the situation, of who I am to her, which is her ex. If she isn’t going to open up to you Kara, she certainly isn’t going to open up to me. If she wanted to, then she would be the one approaching me, not you.”_

_She could tell Kara was disappointed – whether it was with her or the answer she had given, she didn’t know._

_“I just want my sister back.”_

Maggie had felt bad ever since Kara had left her place, but Maggie didn’t see anyway to help with this situation. The last thing she had said to Kara was that Alex may need more time but there was no way she would stay away from the DEO for much longer. It was like Kara said, she would be itching to go back at some point.

Then Kara had sent her a text this morning. Alex had called J’onn and put in an official request for an extended leave of absence.

It was a shock to say the least, but it made Maggie wonder if Alex didn’t want to go back because Evo was there. Was Alex afraid?

…

Alex sat cross-legged on her floor, her eyes closed, attempting and mostly failing at meditation. As much as she wanted she couldn’t clear her mind, but she needed to so she kept at it.

Meditation had never been her thing. She would rather spend hours in the gym rather than attempt what she was doing now. Hell, she hadn’t even known how to do it so she had spent some time reading up on various processes. She didn’t even know if it would help but she was uncharted territory with this.

Opening her eyes with a huff of breath, she pulled herself up off the floor. Pacing back and forth, she felt her anxiety rachet up, something she couldn’t let happen.

“Hello Alexandra,” the voice suddenly popped into her head and she knew it was too late.

“Get out,” she said through clinched teeth. Even though she knew there was no way he would go until she calmed down and forced him out.

“Now, now Alexandra, there is no reason for hostilities,” Evo said in her mind. “Not after we spent all that time together in that beautiful mind of yours.”

That is what the others didn’t know, that while she had been unconscious, she had been trapped in her own mind, but she had no control over what she was seeing and feeling. No Evo was controlling all of it.

That is why she had gone after him as soon as she had woken.

Alex resumed her position on the floor, closing her eyes and again trying to clear her mind.

“Do you really think that will work?” Evo said after a minute.

She ignored him, knowing he wanted her to engage with him.

“Come on Alexandra, that’s no way to be. I thought we had become close.”

“If we were close, you would know I don’t really like being called Alexandra,” she replied even though she knew it was a mistake.  After she had finally been able to stay awake in the DEO, she had felt out of sorts, but nothing like this had happened immediately. Then she was alone in the medbay, lying in bed when he contacted her like this for the first time.

“I know you don’t, but Alexandra is much more refined than Alex so I think I will stick with it,” Evo said. “You know I thought you might have come to visit me by now.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“If you don’t, we will just have to keep talking like this.”

Alex began to ignore him again. Usually, this is how it happened. He would pop into her mind for a bit, she would ignore him and after a while he would leave. She needed to figure out a way to keep him out of her mind completely but she had no idea where to even begin.

Evo had told her that J’onn couldn’t detect their communication and it would appear he was telling the truth.

Her best bet she was thinking was to get her hands on one of the DEO’s neural inhibitors but that would mean going there. She could ask Kara to bring her one, but her sister would surely want to know why. And she didn’t have the equipment here to work on one anyway as she was sure it would need reconfiguring for the purposes of blocking Evo’s intrusions into her mind.

For now, she was just going to have to continue with what she was doing which meant staying as calm as possible. He was preying on her emotions, her feelings so she needed to keep everything at bay as much as possible.

The problem was, she saw no way out of this short of killing him.


End file.
